BALTIMORE – It was a historic milestone night for
Sam Sessoms and
Nendah Tarke as the Coppin State men's basketball team closed the regular season with an impressive 77-65 victory at Morgan State on Thursday night at Hill Field House. Winning three of their last four games, the Eagles enter the MEAC Tournament as the sixth seed with a 9-22 overall record while going 4-10 in league play.
Inside the Numbers
- Sessoms finished with seven points, eight rebounds, eight assists and a steal. With his lone steal, Sessoms became just the 13th player in the last 30 years to record 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists and 200 steals in their career.
- Tarke scored a team-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting along with five rebounds and three assists. With his first field goal of the game, after making a free throw earlier, Tarke became the 24th player in school-history to record 1,000 career points.
- Tarke was one of four Eagles in double figures, followed by Mike Hood with 17 points who added three rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists.
- Justin Steers and Kam'Ron Blue added 13 points apiece as both shot 5-of-8 from the floor. Steers made 3-of-4 from the line while Blue buried three 3-pointers.
- Justin Winston pitched in with four points, followed by Daniel Titus with three and Greg Spurlock with two.
- Coppin continued to shoot well from the floor, outshooting Morgan State, 56.4% to 37.3% while also holding a 37-29 advantage on the boards.
How it Happened
- After Morgan State hit a pair of threes to open the game, it was all Coppin State from there as the Tarke scored eight points while the Eagles went on a 12-2 run over the next 4:40.
- The Bears stopped the drought with a layup before Sessoms found Blue for an open three.
- Morgan was able to close within, 17-15 before Titus and Hood buried back-to-back threes, starting a 14-2 CSU spurt which was capped off by a pair of layups by Tarke with 4:26 remaining.
- Coppin held the Bears without a field goal for the final 5:14 of the period and went into halftime with a 37-24 lead as Blue hit another triple just before time expired.
- Tarke picked up the second half where he left off, with another easy layup off a dime from Sessoms.
- The Eagles extended their lead to as many as 61-41 with 10:57 left in regulation following a dunk from Blue off another assist from Sessoms.
- After CSU made a few changes in its lineup, Morgan scored six-straight points before Blue stopped the bleeding with a three.
- Morgan State got as close as 74-63 with 1:08 left to play following an 8-0 run but Sessoms put a halt to that with a three.
Up Next: Coppin will play third-seeded Norfolk State in the MEAC Quarterfinals on Thursday, March 9 at 8 pm at Norfolk Scope Arena.
